Long Beach's election season starts Monday

LONG BEACH >> The 2014 election season begins today, the first day candidates can file for next year’s wide-open primary.

While some of them have been at it since summer, or longer, corralling endorsements big and small and hosting fundraisers, candidates can’t make it official until they file nominating papers with the City Clerk’s Office.

The filing period ends Jan. 10. The primary election is April 8, and for the races requiring one, a runoff election will be held June 3.

Voters will select a new mayor from several high-profile candidates, as well as fill the elected positions of City Attorney, City Prosecutor and City Auditor.

Five of the City Council’s nine seats are also up for grabs, and because incumbents are either termed out or seeking another office, it’s guaranteed that each of the districts will have a new representative.

On the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education, five candidates and two incumbents are competing for three seats. They have named the achievement gap, the district’s budget and parent engagement, to name a few, as concerns in their campaigns.

In the Long Beach City College District, three seats are up for election, with seven office-seekers having filed candidate intention statements.

School board and college district candidates file with the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office. All others file with the City Clerk’s Office.

Most of the offices already have a slew of prospective candidates:

Mayor

The first to declare an intent to run, in January, was Damon Dunn, a real estate investor and former NFL player. Soon after, 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske stepped forward, and then attorney and Long Beach City College Trustee Doug Otto.

Willmore City Heritage Association Treasurer Jana Shields was the last to announce a campaign before a political bombshell dropped when, after months of consideration, Mayor Bob Foster announced he would not run as a write-in for a third term. Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, the 1st Council District representative, soon jumped in the race, followed by Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, a former councilwoman.

1st District

With Garcia out, five have expressed interested in the seat located in and around downtown, the city’s oldest area. The list includes Lena Gonzalez, a Garcia field deputy, and another council deputy, Ricardo Linarez, who works for 9th District Councilman Steven Neal. Community organizer and medical marijuana proponent Jason Aula was the first to enter the race. Also announcing bids were the Rev. Misi Tagaloa of the Second Samoan Church and Pilar Pinel, founder of Embracing Latina Leadership Alliances and a former field deputy for Lowenthal.

3rd District

Councilman Gary DeLong has declined to try for a third term, leaving open the 3rd District of Belmont Shore, Naples, Belmont Heights, Alamitos Heights and surrounding areas, among the city’s most affluent. Many are interested in filling the void: Educator Martha Flores-Gibson, a past Republican candidate for state office, real estate broker Jack Rosenberg, former Long Beach Rescue Mission leader Jim Lewis, commercial real estate broker Stephen C. Bello, retired Wilson High School teacher Lionel Gatley, retired Orange County Deputy Marshal Bill Ruzgis and Orange County Deputy District Attorney Susan Price.

5th District

Even if she wasn’t running for mayor, Schipske, a strict believer in the city’s term limits, was not likely to seek another term as representative of the suburban East Long Beach 5th District. Four are eager to replace her. They include: businessman Joseph Luyben, whose family started what is now the Luyben Family Dilday-Mottell Mortuary almost 50 years ago; Los Angeles County budget officer Stacy Mungo; Carl Kemp, a lobbyist and former city employee; and Thomas Sutfin, a Millikan High School teacher.

7th District

Though he is eligible for another term, incumbent Councilman James Johnson instead entered the race for City Attorney. Johnson’s successor will have plenty to occupy him or her in the working-class Westside, where protecting residents from pollution from the nearby ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and industrial areas is a long-standing issue.

After Johnson dropped out, Roberto Uranga, a Long Beach City College trustee and husband of former Councilwoman Tonia Reyes-Uranga, announced his intent to seek the seat and has since been collecting prominent endorsements. Also declaring campaigns are Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance Vice President Joan Greenwood, businessman Larry King and Teer Strickland, a former member of the now-defunct Long Beach Redevelopment Agency Board.

9th District

Neal’s chief of staff, Rex Richardson, is campaigning to replace him against Benjamin Daugherty, a longtime resident and vice president of the Community Emergency Response Team.

The district covers North Long Beach to the Compton border.

City Attorney

The current City Attorney, Charles Parkin, is the handpicked successor of Robert Shannon, who retired in July after a long career. Johnson is challenging him for the elected spot. Matthew Pappas, an attorney who has represented medical marijuana advocates in Long Beach, recently moved to the city and has also said he will run.

City Prosecutor

Incumbent City Attorney Doug Haubert is campaigning to be re-elected against Rosemary Chavez, a prosecutor for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

City Auditor

No candidates filed intent papers, but City Auditor Laura Doud is expected to run again.

School districts

LBUSD, 1st District — Incumbent Mary Stanton opted against launching another bid for the board. Stanton has endorsed Megan Kerr, an LBUSD volunteer and PTA member, to be her successor. Kerr’s opponents include Jeff Price, a lawyer, and Uduak Ntuk, a chemical engineer.

LBUSD, 3rd District — Board President John McGinnis announced in August his decision to seek reelection. McGinnis will face off against Juan M. Benitez, a Cal State Long Beach professor, and Joe Smith, a history major at CSULB.

LBUSD, 5th District — Vice President Diana Craighead is seeking re-election and is unopposed so far.

LBCC, 1st District — Incumbent Jeff Kellogg and Marshall Blesofsky have filed candidate intention statements. Blesofsky is a retired educator from USC who also taught for two years as an adjunct professor in the Allied Health Program at Long Beach City College, according to his website. He also is a practicing physician assistant.

LBCC, 3rd District — Incumbent Mark Bowen, business owner Stella Ursua and Sunny Zia, a contract compliance manager at the Port of Long Beach, have announced bids.

LBCC, 5th District — Gregory Slaughter and Virginia Baxter have filed candidate intention statements, with Thomas Clark deciding not to run for re-election. Baxter is the executive director of the Long Beach City College Foundation. Slaughter is a retired LBCC professor and former lieutenant for the Santa Monica Police Department.

Eric Bradley can be reached at 562-499-1254.

Staff writers Nadra Nittle and Josh Dulaney contributed.

About the Author

Eric Bradley covers Long Beach City Hall and politics. He joined the Press-Telegram in August 2011 and previously reported for the Daily Breeze and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Reach the author at eric.bradley@langnews.com
or follow Eric on Twitter: EricBradleyPT.